Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1887-01-26
THE COUP D. ETAT.

rng fristary sf Napoleon xIE.'o Great
Crime, WriSteiF by His Project OF
Police.
A book destined to excite much curl-
Fsity and anger will be issued in o few
days i'll Paris; sntitied Memories sur
lie Second Empire" II IS IN reality
history of the I'd of December, 1851 fs'
lated by NJ. de Maupas, Project of po-
lice ct that time, one of the first insti-
98tors of the coup d. etat, and one Of
its warmest and t'cldest pctofs:
'"The arrests were all to be h5afe by
police commissaries. For q month L
had sent for each of these officials to my
office, and had selected for the most i'm
portant commissions those whom I
deemed the most resolute. With sim
gle exception found the utmost devo-
| ton. All who were to act on the I'd
had been warned not to leave home, and
| teGeiyed hraers 1T 9 am to be at the
Prefecture Of P6lice,ht q Bpe cited time,
between 3 and halt-past 4. Five min
irving they we're kept apart and intro
duced singly into my Office to receive
my instructions, 1t is always blunder
nt such a moment to sag more than is
necessary, and I told each commissary
what arrest he was to make, not letting
| him know that he was sharing in q gen
eral measure.
about eight o'clock [ had all the
minutes of arrests, and most of the COM
missaries, on coming back from MaZas,
had seen me.
AS to II. Thiers, his arrest was
strange scene. Awakened out of his
sleep I,y the entry of the police commits
sary. he was seized with positive terror
on hearing that he was being Arrested.
HIS words were incoherent: "He did
not want to be arrested; he was not a
criminal; he was not conspiring; he
would henceforth remain stranger to
politics; he was going abroad: All
this was said with great volatility,
without Mr.. Hubault. the commissarF.
being able to put in a word. But when
his first agitation was over, and the
eomh1issary had persuaded him
that his life was in no danger,
he recovered himself; and the illustri-
Gus orator, sitting n his bed, COM
menced to hold forth as if he had been
simple spectator of what was passing.
To the request to rise and dress him
self he replied by singular proceeding,
from which it should have been more
dignifed to abstain. Then, still I'M
clad, he approached q piece of furni-
ture in order, he said, to take pair OF
pistols. IF [ blew your brains out,
said he, and added; DO you know that
[ am armed, and that it would be very
excusable if I treated You like a male
factor! NJ. Hubault soon calmed his
bellicose humOr by showing him that he
himself was armed; but NJ. Theirs had
regained confidence, and he began jest
ing in way altogether out of harmony
with the situation, betraying an
effoIt to conceal his real stats
of mind. This painful scene
lasted upward of a quarter of an hour.
H. Theirs was evidently anxious to gain
time. What hope had he? III. HUI
baUlt at length insisted on his dressing,
and in few moments he was beside the
commissary in the carriage awaiting
him outside The attitude of NJ. Theirs
then suddenly changed. His first ter
ror revived you are going to shoot |
me, he said; I see you are leading me
to death Then, once more treasured
as to his life, he tried to ascertain
whether he alone had been arrested.
He tried, by promising considerable
sums, to obtain permission to escape
from Mazas. At Mazas he fell into a
state Of complete prostration, and was
treated with the greatest care |
The most extraordinary thing is that |
so many persons were aware of the in
tended coup d elat, and that nobody
betrayed the secret. This is unprece'
dan+n5